The Explorer
March 2003
Letters from the Bush.

The thunderheads from the east finally swelled beyond the clouds limitations blackening the sky with lightning streaked weather fronts, giving way to a tropical deluge normally associated with coastal storms.

The Ngaroi is green again! I’m sat looking across the kopjes of the Alamana Camp where just a few days ago the same vista included a family grouping of 30 or so Elephants browsing happily amongst the Drapanalobium Acacia as they steadily moved towards the Alamana River.

Alamana is always an exciting place for us to be, with seemingly endless game sighting opportunities, vistas and cultural interplay with the Maasai the remoteness of the camp and exclusivity of the area create a haven of exotic experiences unique to Wildlife Explorer.

Last evening at the end of our night game drive we returned to camp eye shining nocturnal creatures around the kopjes and acacia woodland when at the base of the main camp-fire kopje one set of eyes didn’t quite fit in with the Impala, Dik-Dik or Bush Babies that are normally resident within the rock outcroppings.

As we approached closer a large male Leopard stood up from the grass, looked at us lazily from his hidden vantage point where he was almost certainly weighing up a small family group of Impala seeking refuge close to camp.

The sightings this season from the Alamana Camp highlight the positive effect our continued seasonal presence and conservation policies are having on the resident and non-resident game of The Ngaroi and it is with some pride that our persistence with an exclusive approach to tourism in this community is resulting in such a high quality game and cultural experience.

A letter from the wilderness…………

This month we have contributions to the newsletter from Gordy Bartow with reflections on how he perceived his safari experience.

From Gordy and Sue Bartow, to their children.

To everyone-
From the startling sounds of silence to the roar of the Lion, the thunder of thousands of zebra migrating through the golden grass plains of Ngorongoro and the Serengeti. Vistas that go on forever, the red skies of dawn and the vermilion of sunsets. All this and more is Tanzania.

The people are magnificent. Never have we met people so kind with such a refreshing outlook on life: always caring and so happy that we have come here. The wonderful Maasai who protect us at night with razor sharp spears. They greet us with their smile and soft ‘sopa’ or ‘jambo’, which means hello. The kindness and fellowship shown by people who have very little of what we call the treasures of life, in truth really have more.

Our Wilderness Camp is truly that. Gary Strand has a community conservation project with the Maasai that allows him exclusive use of approximately 300 square kilometres of game rich land bordering the Serengeti National Park, giving us a breathtaking chance to experience the real African Safari.

We have seen real beauty and have witnessed crocodiles attacking and killing a zebra forty paces from where we stood on the banks of the Grumeti River. All this is dangerously wild. Being in the wrong place at the wrong time or being careless can cost you your life.

Gary Strand, our “Bwana” and his two Guides are everything your imagination can expect. Our Guide Naiman has the sharpest eyes and the greatest knowledge of every living animal, bird and plant in Tanzania. Our other Guide Godfrey, who calls me “Bwana” and I call him the same, is a great hulk of a guy who has a heart of gold, who believes in God and his family, and tells us he sends his love to you too.

Gary doesn’t like roads, if there might happen to be any…. he just drives off road so we can get the feel of the real Africa.

Just a note about the incredible “wilderness camp”-we have all the luxuries of home! The days start early, around 06.00 hrs to 14.00hrs driving and walking in the wild game viewing as we wish with lunches served after. We drive in the evening or walk to a Kopje for sundowners returning around 8.30 pm for a five course dinner served by candlelight followed by drinks around a roaring campfire then falling into our beds exhausted!

Please know that we send our love to all of you and hope that someday you will have a personal experience in this special place, the birthplace of mankind…………love Mom and Dad

Breeding Pair of Verreaux Eagles

A recent sighting at Alamana is a pair of breeding Verreaux Eagles seen soaring from the Grumechen ridge. Verreaux eagles are rare and due to their penchant for building nests on cliff ledges also frequented by Baboons often suffer from egg predation. The pair that was sighted were both fully grown and seemingly in excellent health so fingers crossed for a successful breeding season.

Migration Location.

Giving a rare overview of how the short rains have failed this year, the migratory herds flooded into the long grasslands around Moru Kopjes at the beginning of March, lining up and down the slightly magadi waters of Lagaja and the seasonal rivers emanating from the kopjes.

With such bare grasslands around Ndutu the vast herds were faced with impossible choices for good grass selection ending up split between the hills and valleys of Moru and the Hidden Valley depression.

For our safaris the timing could not have been better with most of our Luxury Mobile Camps based at Moru, we were in prime position to take advantage of the lack of other guests within the vicinity and the sheer abundance of predator behaviour created by the unexpected arrival of so many herd animals.

Lion, Cheetah and Crocodile kills were all part of the action experienced by my guests the Bockemohles, Sheltons, Bartows and Oliphants over the course of 13 full days on safari culminating with migration action at Moru. Proof that timing is everything!

The Lion kill was particularly dramatic with the hunt unfolding at last light as the sun dipped into the hills at the back of Moru. A single Lioness stalked an abandoned Wildebeest calf along the banks of the Loiyangalani River timing her finale’ perfectly as the sun, Lion and Wildebeest calf’s reflected images shimmered in the still river waters.

Crocodile action came on the Grumeti River in the western corridor of the Serengeti, a particular favourite inclusion on my safaris since spending many a day with filmmakers Mark Deeble and Victoria Stone during the filming of ‘There be Dragons’ and ‘Tides of Kirawira’.

This particular kill involved a Zebra and 20 to 30 Crocodiles! Careful positioning allowed us to sit in the shade of a small group of trees within metres of the action, adrenalin pumping, cameras whirring as the zebra dispatch unfolded in front of us! Spinning, tearing bodies churned the muddy waters of the Grumeti as the distribution of Zebra and dominance displays created a behavioural feast (excuse the pun) With that under our belts some ninety minutes after the initial attack we headed back to our tents for cold beers and lunch, genuinely in awe how Mother Africa could keep blessing us with these unique glimpses of life in the bush.

News from Dave Armon

Dave and Lee Beth arrived back home at the end of February with a new addition to the family Jacob!

Congratulations from us all on the birth of your son and welcome back.

Dave returned thinking that there would be some quality downtime to be spent with his family but found himself within days back out in The Ngaroi walking with Gary and guests.
Thanks Dave for stepping back into the hot seat at such short notice and for the fine guided walks.

News from Olerai

What a season! And it’s still not over! We have seen countless exotic game confrontations, migratory herds in there millions and enjoyed some of the finest company we have ever had on safari!

Prior to my safari season starting, I took the opportunity of heading out to the bush with my two daughters to explore the Gol Mountains. I count myself fortunate to have two great girls to share my love of the wilderness with, so for 3 nights we spent time walking and driving in areas where very few guests ever get to see. In particular we had been told by friends of a Maasai folktale about a series of fresh water pools hidden in the mountains that were so deep that three Giraffes standing head to toe could not reach the bottom! How this had been surmised we really don’t need to go into however in the extreme heat of day the lure of so much cool water was just too tempting!

Both Jamie and Hannah are water babies and keen hikers so accompanied by a couple of Maasai guides we started hiking far into the interior of the Gol Mountains. Baboons called out in alarm as we climbed higher along narrow game trails made by unknown animals. As with most Maasai treks the distances are seldom measured in anything resembling European/North American scales of measurement so when a half hour turned into one and a half no one was too surprised!

Like silver and gold at the end of a rainbow the freshwater pools opened up in front of us like secret treasure. Our Maasai guides however viewed our intentions to finally confirm how deep the pools were with something short of incredulity! Hannah first, followed shortly by Jamie and then myself as the official depth marker! We reckoned on 13 feet or so to the rock bottom, much more shallow than three Giraffe, even small ones!

Jamie and I spent our last evening on safari with mattresses unfolded on the top of our Land Cruiser marvelling how unspoilt the wilderness was and how incredible the night sky became when darkness fell. Clutching the promise of being given a Lion claw by one of the Maasai, Jamie fell asleep the moment we stopped talking, leaving me with a few minutes to reflect on how privileged a life we lead.

As a father, I wish for peace to prevail and for the safe return of every son and daughter caught up in the current conflicts.

Jo and Hunter have returned home! Welcome back.

With warm wishes to you all,

Gary.
(sent from Alamana Camp-The Ngaroi Wilderness Area)